Bourbon & Branch Water (8 page)

* * *

Stormy wasn’t sure if Jeff would
agree to let her ride the elevator up to his place, but after the required
phone call, she was allowed to go up. She knocked firmly on his door, and he
opened it a few seconds later.

“Hi, babe, what an unexpected
pleasure, come in.”

Jeff’s politeness grated on her
nerves. “I don’t want to come in. I want my panties back and I want to tell you
not to boss me around. You treat me like I’m ten years old.”

He sighed and took her by the hand,
drawing her into his apartment. “Let’s not have this discussion in the hall
where all the neighbors can gape, okay?”

After a moment of resistance,
Stormy allowed him to coax her in. “You are a bossy male chauvinist, Jeff Hand.”

He arched a dark eyebrow, but swept
his hand toward the sofa. “Why don’t you take a seat?”

It suddenly occurred to Stormy that
she hadn’t considered that he might have company—female company. She looked
around for signs of a guest. There were none. It was a relief. She didn’t much
like the idea of him with another woman, even though it was inevitable that he’d
find another new girl, just as there’d been a zillion girls before.

The man read her mind. “There’s no
one here but you and me, Stormy.”

She huffed.

“Sit down.”

“I’m not staying. Give me my
panties.”

“No.”

“No? What do you mean ‘no’?” She
narrowed her eyes. “They’re mine.”

He shrugged. “You left them here.
They’re mine now.”

“Why you arrogant son of a bitch!
That’s part of a matched set!”

“Language.”

Fury made her face hot and her
hands fist. “There you go, bossing me around again. Well, I might be a slut,
falling into your bed like that, but that doesn’t give you the right to tell me
what to do.”

Jeff’s gaze pinned her shoes to the
floor. “You’re in quite a mood tonight. Should I assume it’s all over between
us?”

A tiny knot formed in
Stormy’s
belly, pushing aside some of her anger. The idea
that there could be more to their relationship than the few hours they’d spent
together was so compelling. Part of her definitely wanted more from Jeff, but
the idea that he’d boss her around made her hesitant. Of course he’d bossed her
around all weekend, but that had been different. It had been about sex, do this
with your legs, Stormy; use your mouth, Stormy; get on top, Stormy. In a way,
she’d enjoyed that aspect of his character, the unwavering confidence that let
him take charge. Stormy wished she had that kind of confidence. Being around
Jeff might let some of that rub off, and, she wasn’t deluded enough to ignore
the fact that the overwhelmingly sexual nature of their time together had been
fun.

“I…uh…I don’t know.”

“I’ll demand my pound of flesh
whenever you disobey me, Stormy. I don’t want to give you any misconceptions.”

Were they starting up something
more lasting than fun and games in bed? A thrill rose from her middle and
bubbled up in her brain like so much sugar syrup. “What do you mean by ‘pound
of flesh’?”

“I’ll spank you when you misbehave.
Not the fun kind of spanking, but the punishment kind. I’m sure you remember
what that’s like.”

Ouch. That would be highly
unpleasant…in a way. In another way, Stormy considered how much it made her
feel
like he cared. Why would he try to correct her behavior
if he was going to dump her in a week? That one punishment spanking had been
nasty, but he hadn’t done her harm. She didn’t think of him as abusive in any
way. He’d been unwaveringly polite and thoughtful, in fact. And, besides, she’d
try to stay on her best behavior and not get more punishment spankings. The
events tonight had been because she’d lost her temper. It didn’t happen often,
but when it did, she had a tendency to act out. “What are you asking, Jeff?”

“I want to explore more
possibilities with you, Stormy. So far, the sex has been great, but I think
there’s more to Stormy Stillwater besides a luscious body.” He smiled and
Stormy’s
heart skipped a beat. She’d like to explore more,
too.

The pleasant idea that they’d do
something other than screw made her effervescent, almost giggly. “If I agree,
will you give me back my panties?”

He laughed and the sound reached
right into
Stormy’s
chest and gave her heart a hug. “No.
They’re mine for now. But I’m not done being unhappy with you for using your
phone while driving.”

“I was stopped at the construction
site!”

“Would that have stopped a cop from
giving you a ticket?”

No. She’d gotten a ticket for it
once before, but Jeff didn’t need to know that. “Well…”

He frowned at her but his eyes
sparkled with humor. “No equivocations, Miss Stillwater. You did the crime you
pay the consequences.”

Stormy’s
behind tingled, and not in a good way. “Consequences?” She was pretty sure she
knew the answer to her question, even before he answered it.

“I’m going to spank you for not
behaving safely.”

“Do you have to? What if I promise
not to do it again?”

“Have you done it before?”

Caught, she could lie, but he would
find out somehow. “Yes.”

Jeff nodded. “I thought as much.
You answered the phone on the first ring.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You’ll be sorrier and remember
better behavior after I spank you. Now put your purse down and pull down your
slacks and panties. You
are
wearing
panties, aren’t you?” His grin said he was teasing. It lightened the awkward
moment.

“Yes. Of course I am.”

Gesturing, he repeated his order. “Slacks
and panties down. You can bend over the back of the club chair. I’ll be right
back.”

With an inward groan, Stormy gave
her choices one more thought. Would she be doing the right thing? It was risky
getting involved with a guy like Jeff. He might break her heart. Well, any
potential boyfriend could do that if he was a jerk. Jeff seemed to care,
though. Maybe he was different. How could she know for sure? She couldn’t
unless she gave it a try, and she really had to know.

She had taken the position when he
returned. Jeff approached from behind her, so she couldn’t see him, but she
could sense his warmth as he stood near her backside. A silicone spatula, the
floppy kind, was thrust into her field of vision.

“See this? This is what I’m going
to spank you with. Are we still clear on what’s going to happen here?”

Stormy didn’t know if a silicone
spatula was going to hurt worse or less, but she’d mentally committed to the
punishment so she screwed up her courage and tightened her butt muscles. “Yeah,
it’s clear. Are you sure we have to do this, Jeff? I really will be better.”

“I can ensure that. Your safety is
important to me, babe. I want to drive that home.”

There were better things to drive
home, she thought, but the erotic daydream was quickly lost in the sharp pain
of the spatula hitting her behind. “Ouch!”

“Don’t be a baby.”

“Ouch! Hey, it’s not your butt!
Ouch!”

He smacked her several more times
and the sound of the spatula hitting her rump became a rhythmic beat punctuated
by her little cries of pain. It definitely hurt as bad as a hand spanking had
been, but Stormy was aware that the sound was more
nerve-jangling
than the spanks.

“J-Jeff, do you have to spank me so
hard?” The words were thick in her throat.

“This isn’t hard, but damn if your
ass isn’t flaming.”

“Oh God,
ow
!”

It went on and on.
Stormy’s
eyes got teary and she began to sob. It genuinely
hurt. Finally Jeff stopped, but she was blubbering. She’d never asked him to
stop and that made her a little dazed. Why hadn’t she
said
“stop”? Was she some sort of masochist now? Or had she subconsciously believed
she deserved punishment for doing something illegal and potentially unsafe.
Obviously, the lesson of the first ticket hadn’t been learned, so Jeff’s
sharply made point was not amiss.

The spatula hit the coffee table
with a small thump. Jeff gave her one
more sharp
crack, this time with his hand, and finally smoothed the
owie
with a gentle rub on her burning cheeks. “You did well, sweetheart,” he said. “Your
butt
was definitely made to be spanked
.”

Stormy straightened up. “Lucky me.”
Her voice hitched and her nose ran. She was a wreck. Jeff stroked her face and
gave her a little smile.

“Was that so bad?”

“Yes!” She considered the other
potential consequences—never seeing Jeff except for the case—and
realized that, despite the pain, it wasn’t so bad. The burn on her butt was
even beginning to fade a teensy tiny bit. “No. I guess not. Can I have a
tissue?”

He reached behind him. “Have the
box.”

Stormy took it and pulled out a
few, blowing her nose and wiping her face. “Thanks.”

Rounding the club chair, Jeff sat
and patted his lap. “Come sit.”

“Can I pull my pants up now?”

“If you want to, though you’ll
probably want to take them off again soon.”

Shame of her loose behavior ate at
her again. “I’ll take my chances,” she said, pulling up her panties and pants. She
cringed as the fabric slid over her tender butt. As Stormy settled onto his lap
his arms wrapped around her and she laid her head on his shoulder. He cradled
her there for a while and relaxation stole over her.

“You’re not going to do that again,
right?” Jeff asked.

Stormy shook her head.

“Say it.”

“I won’t use the phone and drive
again.”

“Good.” The sensation of his hand
stroking the length of her hair was soothing and Stormy nearly dozed off. “Are
you hungry?” he whispered, kissing her temple.

She nodded.

“Okay. I have a few things in the
fridge or we can order pizza. What do you want?”

“I don’t care.”

Jeff turned her head slightly and
looked into her eyes. “You’re not being petulant, are you?”

Was she? She did feel a little
irritable, but that could easily be hunger. She’d worked through her lunch hour
and hadn’t eaten since breakfast. That had been a rushed affair so that she
could shower and get to the office on time. And she was tired, so tired. They’d
been up until four a.m. and Stormy hadn’t gotten any sleep, what with the drive
and having to get to work. In all honesty, even though she was hungry, she
really didn’t care what the food was.

“No, I truly don’t care.”

“Okay, babe. I’ll make us
something. Maybe you want to go wash up?”

“Yes.”

“Stormy, when we’re together
working through a punishment like this, you should say, ‘yes, sir.’“

It was a small enough thing, but it
had a lot of meaning. Still…she respected him and what he stood for, it was
appropriate for the situation, and he wasn’t asking her to do it all the time. “Yes,
sir.”

He kissed her temple again. “Good
job.”

A sense of accomplishment expanded
her heart and she wondered if she was losing her mind. “Thank you.” Rising, she
realized how civilized it had all been. She transgressed, Jeff corrected.
Simple as that.
Slate clean. There was something to be said
for that. “Do you need help in the kitchen?”

He grinned. “No. I’ve been a
bachelor for a while.”

Of course, she felt pangs of jealousy
over all the other women. She was sure there were many others and that made her
throat constrict. “Okay.” She’d done the polite thing and now she’d retreat to
the bathroom for a few minutes. Stormy wanted to come to grips with their new
relationship and all it entailed. And she dearly needed to see her flaming ass.

* * *

Jeff made love to her slowly and
gently after dinner. He’d been right about her desire to drop her panties
again. It made Stormy sigh with resignation. She couldn’t resist him worth a
nickel, and the more time she spent with him, the worse it got. But things were
heading in a different direction, a dangerous direction and the longer it
continued the more invested in it she became. Was she doing the right thing?
The conflicting emotions, the fear of getting dumped, joy at the potential
happiness, kept coming back.

They’d talked about family and
goals as they ate. Jeff had a sister, Missy, who lived in Minnesota where she
was a schoolteacher. He’d grown up with a divorced mom, and his dad hadn’t
lingered around. Unfortunately, his mother had died almost ten years previous
in a traffic accident. Jeff seemed to be resigned to being without parents, but
Stormy couldn’t help but think of her own family and compare the experiences.

Stormy’s
own three brothers and sister were precious to her. She hadn’t liked being away
from them so long in Montana and had taken the first opportunity to get back to
Nevada. But she and Jeff did have the loss of one parent in common. Although
Albert Stillwater hadn’t died in a traffic accident, he was gone and Stormy
missed him much as Jeff must miss his mother.

Stormy was exhausted, and Jeff
probably was, too, so it wasn’t much of a hardship for her to put on one of his
pajama tops and crawl into his bed for the night. They both agreed that the
long drive back to the reservation would be a mistake under the circumstances.
It gave her an excuse to stay with him again, prolonging the contact. The
sensual sex was a bonus.

Jeff undid the buttons of the borrowed
pajama top slowly, drawing out the moments into something like torture. Stormy
wanted him up against her. Her nipples were hard points eager to rub over his
chest. He explored her body with hands and mouth, making her writhe beneath him
before he slid home inside her. He went so slowly, so tenderly. Each thrust
made her raise her hips to meet him. And, once again, he said delicious things
to her.